No, I’m not talking about the New Age “Secret” DVD or book, I’m talking about a basic principle which I thought was worthwhile posting here.
There is one, and only one, basic rule essential to grow wealth.
The Most Basic Wealth Principle is this: Produce more than what you consume.
There is only one way to create wealth, and that is by producing more than you consume. The wider the gap between what you produce and what you consume, the greater will be the rate of increase in your wealth.
In other words, produce more money than what you consume. This is simple, and self-evident, yet a great many people do not live this way, instead living the opposite. They consume more than what they produce - they borrow more money than they have, to buy the things they WANT today. They sign up for cable TV, mobile phone plans, car loans, credit cards, the lot. It’s hard not to give in to temptation, isn’t it? But that’s why so many people making a decent income are struggling to meet their day-to-day needs, and in debt.
Another way to describe producing more than you consume is to use the terms “delay of gratification” versus “instant gratification.” If you immediately consume what you produce you are receiving “immediate gratification,” but if you produce more than you consume on a consistent basis you are “delaying gratification.” All truly successful people know that success is ultimately achieved, not immediately, but in the long run through the delay of gratification.
Often we wish for the something-for-nothing dream. Like scavenger animals, we wish to find wealth already created and intact - such as winning a lottery. The harsh reality of producing more than is consumed, is unpalatable to a person who lives in the range of the moment, without a concept of accumulation of wealth over time.
The prosperity conscious human produces more than he or she consumes. By following this plan, he or she cannot help but come to wealth. Even a poor person, applying this principle will come to a better end than those who consume all they produce.
Just food for thought…
JB